Audiocassettes with Dagestan folk songs to be recorded in UK

Makhachkala, March 20, 2017. In late March, the audio cassettes with Caucasian folk music, including Dagestani traditional songs will be recorded and released in the UK.

It should be noted, that this is not for the first time when Londoners get familiarized with Daghestani music: in 2016 two songs were broadcasted via the "NTS" radio in England, one of which was a mix of music of the peoples of Southern Dagestan.

The independent ethnographic project from Kabardino-Balkaria "Ored Recordings" and the London sound recording company "Death is Not the End" are engaged in the cassettes release project.

In a conversation with RIA "Dagestan" correspondent, the co-founder of "Ored Recordings" Bulat Khalilov ещдв about how Dagestan's musical folklore songs sounded in England, how the project got to the republic and why the tracks were recorded on audio cassettes.

Why Dagestan?

The project oranizers explain strong interest to Dagestan by the diversity of cultures and the unique folklore of each ethnic group living in the republic.

"In Dagestan, the culture differs not only among the representatives of different nationalities, but even among the residents of neighboring villages. For example, the Dargins from different villages perceive themselves differently and, accordingly, sing differently. Here you can find rich material. Therefore, Dagestan is one of our favorite regions, "Khalilov confessed.

The project participants visited the villages of Balkhar, Gapshima and Akhty, as well as the ancient city Derbent and some villages of Tabasaran district. 

Bulat Khalilov noted that the trips were relatively rare due to the lack of information about the performers of traditional music residing on the territory of the republic. 

Dagestan folklore on the London radio

According to Bulat Khalilov, the project is not aimed only at the British, but focuses on much wider audience. In 2016, the company launched cooperation with the radio station "NTS", having created two compositions consisting of several pieces of music. One of these music mixes included songs of the peoples of Southern Dagestan.

Khalilov said that the cooperation of Kabardino-Balkarians with the English radio will be continued in 2017. 

"An “NTS” resident Luke Owen proposed the release of two cassettes, as the result of the cooperation: one with songs, and the another with dance tunes. 

They contain original tunes of Dagestan, Chechnya, Adygea, Kalmykia, Azerbaijan, Abkhazia and other regions. 

Besides, at the end of March, the cassettes can be bought online and in modern, experimental and "avant-garde" music stores. The audiocassettes in Europe are more popular than CD-ROMs, that's why this format was chosen for recording songs."- Khalilov said. 

What is “Ored Recordings”? 

The main goal of "Ored Recordings" is to record the traditional music of the peoples of the Caucasus, Russia and the world, as well as to support the local musical cultures.

The creators of the company travel across the cities, villages and auls in search of performers of traditional musical folklore.

"The main condition is maximum comfort for the performer. Most often, we are not dealing with professional musicians, and it is important that they perform the composition not for us, but for themselves - as they sing it in the normal conditions. 

That’s why we record songs not in the studio, but, for example, in the artist's house. The better condition, during a feast, a holiday or a certain ritual. A great naturalness of sound is achieved, "- Bulat Khalilov said.

According to Khalilov, the project records a contemporary traditional music.
 
Note that "Ored Recordings" has already visited Adygea, Kalmykia, North Ossetia, Chechnya and Stavropol Territory, as well as South Ossetia, Azerbaijan and Abkhazia. The project intends to trip to Georgia. All the music recorded by the company is freely available on its website.